Syrian deputy FM: No progress made in 2nd round of Geneva talks

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Friday that the second round of the Geneva II negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition has made no progress. "We came to Geneva to solve the Syrian crisis politically but the other party came with Western agendas of only one focus, which is to establish a transitional governing body," Mekdad said at a press conference in Geneva at the end of the talks. He stressed "his government is ready to discuss the issue of transitional government only after the counter-terrorism file is taken care of." Mekdad noted that no agenda for the conference has even been agreed upon, according to the official Syrian TV. The Syrian government wants to prioritize combating the rampant terrorism in Syria, but the oppositional Syrian National Coalition wants to focus on the establishment of a transitional government. The first round of talks ended about 10 days ago with no concrete results. There are reports that a third round of talks is being planned. While slamming the Coalition for disregarding the presence of terrorism in Syria, Mekdad stressed that his government will keep working to make the political solution a success.